Page 93 of We Met Like This
“Great! Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver. If this book ever gets published, you’ll be at the top of the acknowledgments.”
For all the work I was putting in, I deserved the dedication page. “Hart is my last name,” I said, even though I knew she was half kidding. But just in case she’d been serious, maybe my name in the back of one of her books could get me a Google search or two.
“I’ll send over the details. I already booked you a hotel.”
“Already… You… When do you want me to do this?”
“This weekend.”
Of course she did. But why not? I had literally forgotten what day of the week it was because there was nothing on my schedule. Four hours away wasn’t bad, I could even make it back on Sunday for my sister’s barbecue. “Yes, send me the details.”
We hung up the phone and I peered out my side window, but Oliver’s car was gone.
CHAPTER 27
I turned my key in the ignition for the fifth time, and like the four other times before it, my car let out a choking sound that faded into nothingness. My bags for the weekend in Paso were in the trunk and I was ready to go. Of course my car would choose now to die on me. After I’d just boasted to Oliver that she had never let me down.
I picked up my phone and dialed my dad’s number.
“Hello, love,” was how he answered.
“Hi, Dad. I’m going to let you listen to a sound and you are going to try to guess what it means.”
“Ooh, I love this game,” he said. “Okay, ready.”
I held my phone away from my ear, put him on speaker, and turned the key again.
“Um…” he said as though seriously pondering. “The beginning of a song? A dying cat?”
“It’s my car. What do you think it means?”
“Did you mistake me for your dad who is a mechanic?”
“No, but I thought I’d have a better chance with you than Mom.”
“Because I’m a man?” he asked.
“Because you drive an older car that I assume has broken down more.”
“True,” he said. “But I have no clue.”
I groaned. “How would you like to let me borrow a car this weekend to drive four hours away?”
“When would you need it?”
“Now? And I’d need you to drive here and drop it off.”
“Oh, hon, you know I’d do anything for you.”
“If the wordbutcomes next in that sentence then I don’t know that,” I teased.
He laughed. “I’m sorry. Your mom is running errands all day in our only reliable car.”
“No, it’s okay, I understand. I’ll see you Sunday.”
“Good luck.”
I could rent a car, but that would render the moneymaking aspect of this weekend pointless. I dialed another number.
